String-cutter.



PATENTED SEPT. 13, 1904.

G. R. BUTLER.

STRING CUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED DEOJB, 1903.

NO MODEL.

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NrTEn STATEs Patented September 13, 1904:.

GRAHAM R. BUTLER, OF OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

STRING-CUTTER.

3PECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 769,726, dated September 13, 1904.

Application filed December 18, 1903. Serial No. 185,652. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GRAHAM R. BUTLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Omaha, in the county of Douglas, State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in String-Cutters; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to string-cutters such as are employed for cutting the string or cord after it has been tied around a bundle or pack age, the object of the invention being to provide an improvement upon the construction shown in a prior patent granted to me and numbered 7%,526, said improvement consisting in the provision of means for preventing wear of the handle under the action of the cord or string in the cutting operation and, further, in the provision of such an arrangement as will permit of removal of the blades with their guards or fenders, so that the blades may be sharpened.

In the drawings forming a portion of this specification, and in which like numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several views, Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the cutter and the position of the string in the cutting operation. Fig. 2 is a transverse section through the handle, the knives, and the guard. Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the ferrule and the parts encircled thereby. Fig. i is a longitudinal section through the handle in the plane of one of the slots in which the blade is engaged and illustrating the blade in engagement therewith.

Referring now to the drawings, the present cutter comprises a handle 5, which maybe of wood or other suitable material and through the center of which passes a longitudinal tube 6, it being understood that if the handle be of metal the tube may be omitted and a longitudinal passage formed. The handle is tapered from end to end and adjacent to its minor end is concaved, as shown at 7. In connection with the handle are employed a plurality of blades 8, which in the present instance are three in number, and the minor end of the handle has longitudinal grooves or slots 9 in its face, in which are engaged the stems or shanks of blades 10, these slots or grooves having recesses or deepened portions 9 in their bottoms, in which are received the lugs 10 on the blades, so that the blades are held securely against longitudinal movement in the grooves or slots. In connection with each blade there is employed a guard 11, which extends longitudinally of the blade and at one end is curved downwardly into hook form and part way around the point of the blade in the direction of the stem, the extremity of the hook lying slightly spaced from the handle and the guard being of spring metal, so that the string to be cut may be readily passed between the guard and the handle and thence to the blade. The guards are continued along the stems of the blades and lie in seats 16 in the minor end of the handle, in which positions they are held by a ferrule 17, which is disposed upon said minor end of the handlcand between which and the bottoms of the seats 16 the guards are wedged, said guards and ferrule serving to prevent movement of the blades, with their lugs, from the recesses in the slots of the handle. The ferrule thus serves to hold the several parts together. To prevent wear of the handle by the string in the cutting operation, plates 18 are disposed longitudinally of the handle and are secured thereto, each of the plates having a longitudinal slot 19, in which a portion of the corresponding blade lies, the point of the blade and the adjacent portion of its cutting edge extending over the unslotted portion of the plate.

In practice the stringfrom the ball is passed through the tube 6 from the major to the minor end of the handle, and after the free end portion of the string has been fastened around a bundle the handle is manipulated to pass the string between the handle and the bundle through the interspace between the tip of a guard and the handle, the guard being sprung outwardly, if necessary. The handle is then further manipulated to cause the spring to engage the corresponding blade and to wedge between it and the adjacent plate 18, continuation of this operation resulting in cutting of the string. To prevent the string from pulling back through the handle should the article be dropped, a retaining-bushing 13 is provided and is engaged in the tube 6 at the major end of the handle, this bushing having a flange 14: at its outer end to limit its movement into the tube, while the opposite end of the bushing is slotted longitudinally to form fingers 15, the extremities of which are bent slightly inwardly, so as to engage the string with sufiicient friction to prevent movement of the handle by gravity from the string. The bushing fits the tube with sufiicient looseness to permit of withdrawal when desired.

It will be understood that when it is desired to sharpen the blades the ferrule is drawn from the handle and the blades are then removed, with their guards, and sharpened in the usual manner of sharpening a knife, after which the parts are reassembled in the positions as above described.

In practice modifications of the specific construction shown may be made and any suitable materials and proportions may be used for the various parts without departing from the spirit of the invention.

That is claimed is 1. In a string-cutter, the combination with a handle having slots at one end and recesses in the bottoms of the slots at the outer ends thereof, of blades having lugs thereon engaged at one end in said slots with thei? lugs engaging the recesses, a guard for each blade disposed longitudinally thereof and upon the end that is in the slot, and a ferrule disposed upon the end of the handle and embracing the blades and the guard.

2. A string-cutter comprising a handle, a blade secured to the handle, a guard secured at one end to the handle and extending longitudinally over and around the point of the blade between it and the handle, and a slotted plate secured to the handle and in the slot of which a portion of the blade is received, the portion of the blade adjacent to its point projecting over the unslotted portion of the plate.

3. In a string-cutter, the combination with a handle having slots therein at one end and recesses in the bottoms of the slots at their outer ends, of slotted plates secured to the handle with their slots in alinement with those of the handle, the outer ends of the plates being bent to conform with the shape of the recesses and lying therewithin, blades having lugs disposed within the slots with their lugs engaged with the recesses, the points of said blades projecting beyond the unslotted portions of the plates, guards disposed longitudinally of the blades and lying thereabove and against the face of the handle at opposite sides of the recessed portions of the slots, and a ferrule disposed upon the end of the handle and inclosing the blades and guards.

In testimony whereof I affiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GRAHAM R. BUTLER.

Witnesses:

AUGUSTUS H. Ross, L. L. BEVERIDGE. 

